<Chapter 152>
#17. The Beast God’s Arrangement (4)
Melty entrusted his body completely to the warmth behind his back as he opened his mouth wide. As if he had been waiting, Calix’s long fingers popped a perfectly ripe raspberry into his mouth. When Melty pressed the raspberry against the roof of his mouth with the tip of his tongue, the sweet-sour juice quickly spread throughout his mouth.
“Is it delicious?”
In response to Calix’s voice mixed with laughter, Melty opened his mouth wide again instead of answering. Calix lovingly watched as he opened his mouth like a baby bird and hurriedly delivered more fruit to his mouth. Melty smiled brightly as he chewed the fruit that had popped into his mouth and tilted his head back.
“Aren’t you going to eat, Calix-ssi?”
“You’re only asking now? Are you full?”
“…I’m not asking because I’m full. How can you interpret someone’s goodwill like that?”
Melty’s lips jutted forward at Calix’s teasing. Furtively rolling his eyes, Melty belatedly confirmed that the bowl of fruit that had been placed in front of him was almost empty. As he fiddled with the bowl that clearly showed empty space, laughter rang out with a small tremor from behind him.
“Stop laughing.”
“Ah.”
With his chin resting on Melty’s shoulder, Calix opened his mouth. Melty glanced sideways at Calix with a sulky face, then grabbed a handful of fruit and pushed it into his mouth. Although his cheeks were bulging to the point of puffing up, Calix’s mouth still wore a smile.
“Why are you smiling like that? Are you that happy that I gave you fruit?”
“Yes. I wike it.”
“Ugh. Unbearable.”
Melty sighed deeply as he glanced at Calix, who was answering slurringly and smiling due to the fruit in his mouth, with eyes that couldn’t be angry. After wiping the juice from the corners of his mouth with his thumb, he kissed his lips with a smacking sound, wearing a prim expression. Calix, who had frozen at the unexpected brief kiss, hurriedly swallowed the fruit in his mouth.
“Why is it so short?”
“It wasn’t short.”
“Really? I’m not sure… do it once more for me.”
He hadn’t changed at all in his bold and shameless demands. Pretending to give in to his whispering voice with a bright smile, Melty pouted his lips but obediently kissed him.
Calix’s lips spread into a smile at the kiss that alighted like down feathers, gently wandering over his lips with smacking sounds. Since Melty had only woken up recently and because it was important for him to recover his health, Calix had tried not to push him too hard, but it was impossible to just watch when he was being this cute.
Cupping Melty’s cheek with one hand, Calix kissed him more deeply. The shy and cute smacking sounds instantly changed to thick, rich sounds. As Melty’s hands gripping his arms tensed, Calix barely managed to separate their lips.
Thanks to his diligent sucking on the upper and lower lips, they exhaled ragged breaths while slightly parted and plumply swollen. Staring intently at the pretty colored flesh occasionally visible through the gap, Calix belatedly came to his senses at the hand tapping his leg with a disgruntled movement.
“Yes.”
With a regretful heart, Calix kissed his forehead and adjusted his posture so that Melty could lean against him more comfortably. Naturally, Calix’s hand came to rest on Melty’s protruding belly. His expression became enigmatic as he stroked Melty’s belly with circular movements.
“Isn’t it amazing? It’s twins.”
“…Twins?”
The hand that had been regularly massaging his stomach stopped. Melty looked up at Calix again, blinking his round eyes at his questioning look.
“You mean there are two of them in there?”
“Yes. The snake that always appeared in my dreams told me. But thinking about it again, I think it was the Beast God.”
Unlike Melty, who was chattering about the dream he had at that time, Calix’s expression grew increasingly serious. His touch as he caressed Melty’s belly became even more careful.
‘Is it okay for two to be in such a small space?’
Anxiety grew within Calix, as it hadn’t been long since he had seen him lying as if about to breathe his last. Of course, the Beast God had appeared in person and conveyed that the blessing of “fertility” bestowed upon Melty also included the power of health, but Calix had originally been an atheist.
“Ow.”
As soon as a short groan escaped Melty’s mouth, Calix quickly released the pressure in his hand.
“I’m sorry. Are you okay? Does it hurt? Should I call the physician?”
Melty, who had been staring up at Calix as he fidgeted anxiously, raised his hand and tapped his head.
“It’s just that I was a little surprised, so it’s fine! Aren’t parents supposed to make a fuss over things like this?”
“……”
With a fake cough, Melty spoke in a solemn tone. At the sight of his apparent arrogance, Calix was at a loss for words and sighed, pressing his cheek against the top of his head.
“You didn’t tell me about the pregnancy, so why did you hide that it’s twins?”
“Ugh! I-I didn’t hide it. I only found out about it myself this time!”
Whether his indignation was genuine, Melty’s ears stood up straight and lightly struck the tip of Calix’s nose. Although there was no way he could have felt pain from the soft ear brushing against him, Calix rubbed his face against Melty’s head with exaggerated movements.
“…It’s true…”
The ears that had been standing upright just moments ago drooped. Those ears, with no strength in them at all, seemed to represent Melty’s downcast mood. At the movement of the cute down, Calix, who had regained his vitality as if he had never dropped his eyes, stamped his lips on the fur.
“Okay. I’ll let it go. But from now on, no more secrets from me. Got it?”
“…I got it. If you say it one more time, it’ll be the 100th time.”
Melty grumbled as he fiddled with Calix’s hand resting on his belly. Calix docilely submitted to Melty’s touch, which was kneading his hand like dough.
“Be sure to tell me if there’s anything you want to eat.”
“That’s the 98th time you’ve said that.”
“And you have to tell me immediately if you feel pain or anything strange.”
“…That’s the 135th time.”
Despite adding complaints to Calix’s words, the corners of Melty’s mouth kept twitching upward. Calix’s words always contained worry. How much he had worried about him was evident enough from the haggard face Melty had seen when he first opened his eyes.
Holding his hand tightly, Calix had smiled at him while unable to control his tears, shedding them for quite some time. Occasionally, he had included expressions of gratitude toward the Beast God whom he didn’t even believe in, along with words of thanks. With his heart fluttering at the sight, Melty had ended up shedding tears along with him until he collapsed from dehydration.
“Sleepy?”
Calix asked considerately as he brushed Melty’s bangs with his hand. After letting out a small yawn, Melty slowly shook his head.
“I’m not sleepy yet.”
“Don’t hold back if you’re sleepy, just sleep.”
“Yes… But Calix-ssi, aren’t you busy?”
“What would I be busy with?”
With his eyes half-closed at Calix’s pleasant voice, Melty listened to the sounds coming from beyond the door. The sound of anxious footsteps pacing in front of the room was one of the sounds Melty had heard most frequently in recent days, so it wasn’t difficult to deduce who it was.
“Angel-ssi is here.”
“He must have nothing to do. Don’t worry about it.”
Clicking his tongue briefly, Calix covered Melty’s ears with his hands after finishing his whispered words. Melty, who had tilted his head up again to see his face, smiled and poked his chin with his index finger. Lowering his gaze from the door he had been glaring at, Calix’s heart was attacked by Melty’s brightly smiling face.
“Spiteful expression.”
“Hmph. How am I spiteful?”
“Angel-ssi is doing it for work. I’ll be fine by myself.”
“I don’t want that.”
Having firmly expressed his refusal, Calix hugged Melty tightly. Melty put strength into his melting mouth at his embrace. Since Melty had opened his eyes, Calix had been sticking to him for several days. When Melty’s family members from the Crosel family came, he had vacated his position for a very short time, but otherwise, he was always within Melty’s line of sight. To explain more precisely, it seemed more convincing that Calix was keeping Melty in his sight. Thanks to this, despite having no problems with movement, Melty hadn’t even been able to walk more than twenty steps.
Although dissatisfaction occasionally welled up at his excessive overprotection, he couldn’t push away Calix, who openly said he didn’t want to be separated from him. When Melty’s frustration with Calix’s overprotection erupted and he put strength in his eyes, Calix would drop his eyes with a miserable face. Each time, recalling his uncharacteristic tearful appearance weakened Melty’s heart. Finally giving up on sending Calix away, Melty moved to the side and nestled into his arms.
“I don’t want to be apart from Calix-ssi either.”
“That’s a lie. You’re always trying to send me away.”
“Well…”
Calix, with a face mixed with dissatisfaction, gently pulled Melty’s soft cheek. While submitting his cheek to his touch, Melty hesitated. At that moment, the sound of urgent knocking on the door rang out.
“Calix-nim! I really can’t postpone it any longer.”
Calix’s brow wrinkled drastically as his sweet time with Melty was interrupted by Angel’s frantic cry. Watching Calix exhale a neurotic sigh while brushing back his hair, Melty smiled brightly.
“See? He says it can’t be postponed. Stop making Angel-ssi suffer.”
“Do you know how much money that guy is paid? He should earn his keep. Are you trying to chase me away?”
Calix grumbled, stamping kisses on top of Melty’s head and throwing a tantrum. Letting out a thin laugh at the ticklish feeling, Melty interlocked their fingers. Gently swinging their tightly clasped hands up and down, Melty looked up at him.
“Nooo. I’m not trying to chase you away…”
Melty, dragging out the end of his words, rolled his eyes while checking Calix’s mood. It was immensely enjoyable to see Calix fidgeting and sticking close to him. But it was too empathetic to ignore Angel who was fidgeting outside the door for Melty, who had diligently worked as a business assistant.
Calix’s work handling, seen up close, was very fast, but that didn’t mean his workload was small at all. Although Calix hadn’t said anything about how the epidemic had progressed and been resolved, based on what Melty had roughly heard from the visiting family members, it seemed that quite a lot of work had been postponed for him.
‘It’s also almost time for my family to come…’
The family members who had arrived at the Padrian mansion after receiving Malek’s contact were in a state of shock from various news, including Malek’s infection with the epidemic, Melty’s kidnapping, and pregnancy. Though he thought it was due to several misunderstandings overlapping, he didn’t want to leave Calix to face his family’s sharp gazes. Thinking of a way to send Calix out for both reasons, Melty clung tightly to him.
After fidgeting around to find a comfortable position, Melty looked up at him in a posture he might like and smiled brightly. And he whispered to Calix, who was looking at him with a pleased face.
“I have a favor to ask.”
